Prim
by effing-slytherclaw-mushroom
Summary: Katniss is forced to watch as the person she loves the most dies literally two feet away from her. Wow, i suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**My first Hunger Games fanfic!**

**In this one, it starts after the first Games, but before the second Quarter Quell, and it's in Katniss's POV.**

**CHAPTA 1!**

I crouch among the trees. Arrow pointed downwards. Below me, about 15 feet down is a goat. However it got there, i don't know- probably ran away from the goddamn Goat Man. Well, it's going to be our dinner tonight.

In the tree beside me, a bit lower is Gale. I look at him, and he nods. Our arrows fly towards the goat, then collide in mid-air, stabbing into a nearby tree. The goat runs away.

Gale swears loudly and jumps off the tree in a rage. "AUGH!"

He trips over a root landing on a wild turkey. He swears again. "Dinner" he mumbles. I laugh, and we drag our game bags home.

I bring the meat home to Hazelle and my mom while Gale sells the berries. At home, i see Prim sobbing. The reaping is tomorrow, and tonight they'll announce how this year's Quell will be like. I rush to her.

"It's gonna be okay, Prim," I hold her face in my hands. "Trust me, it will." She screams.

"TRUST YOU? I TRUSTED YOU LAST YEAR AND GUESS WHO'S NAME POPPED OUT OF THE REAPING BALL?" She leaps away from me and crashes into the wall behind me.

Okay, so maybe i did sound pretty convincing last year.

I sigh and go to help my mother cook.

* * *

Too soon, it's time to see what type of freakish Hunger Games we'll have this year. The people in the Capitol are probably crazily excited, while those in the districts will be dreading what their children might possibly have to face.

I sit next to a shaking Prim and my mother to watch. On the screen, a calm President Snow surrounded by screaming Capitol fans awaits the small box of index cards that could decide hundreds of tributes' fates on a levitated stage. I think we've missed his speech introducing the Quarter Quells to those who don't know. Not that anyone doesn't. Even if they don't say it like that, it's mandatory for everyone in the nation except for the Capitol to feel the pain of the Games.

A small boy, who could be under Prim's age hands him the box. President snow carefully, delicately picks out a yellowed card labeled "75".

Dramatic silence.

Snow's eyes widen slightly. The cards were written seventy-five years ago no one alive knows what is written on this one and the ones after it, but could this be something so despicable that it would even shock the president just a tiny bit? No, of course not..

He clears his throat.

" Today, we honour our third Quarter Quell." Maybe i don't want to hear about this year. I've had enough Games for a lifetime. "On the seventy-fifth anniversary..." Maybe i could run off with Gale into the woods and hide there forever. Something is bothering me, something i can't put my finger on. "As a reminder to the rebels that even when it seems so close, what you love can never be retrieved once it has been taken from the Capitol, the relatives of each tribute will be required to safely watch the Games from inside the Arena itself."

The crowd gasps.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Please R/R! ^_^ THANKS!**

What does this mean? The relatives, stylists and mentors of the tributes will be required to watch the Games from _inside _the arena? I see Prim, my mother's and the crowd in the Capitols' faces mirroring my emotions. Slightly baffled. Surely, that's not what it means. It said safely, but how could they let the non-tributes into the arena? We wait for further explanation but the mic is handed to Claudius Templesmith and he's concluding the show.

"I'm going to bed" I whisper to Prim. She nods. It's been a long day.

* * *

I lay alone on top of the plush comforter. Just a year ago, i would be in the same room as Prim and my mother, on a cot. On the other side of District 12. But, as Peeta said, i'm not a girl from the Seam anymore- i'm a girl From the Victor's Village.

I scowl.

I've left the thought of me mentoring a fellow tribute, a girl i'll probably know, till now. I've always tried to ignore it, but now it hits me. I'll be responsible for her life. My job is to keep her alive. And how can i do that? What if i fail? The girls friend's, family, teachers.. Now the dread of it hits me. What if i actually become friends with the girl? And then lose her? I was hardly able to keep Peeta alive last year and that was when i was with him twenty-four seven. _But i'll have Cinna,_ I think. He'll help me. Maybe even Haymitch.

But still... the thought of someone i could possibly know having to go through the Games relying on me...

What if it's Prim?

_No, Katniss, you can't think like that. She was already chosen last year. The odds..._

But the odds, it seems, have never been in my favor.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When i wake up, someone is shaking me. Prim. It's reaping day, and the clock says we have fifteen minutes left until we have to be at the town square. Me and Gale didn't hunt today, since Posy's come down with something again and he's helping his mother.

I smile at her. She's already dressed, in one of my old reaping clothes. I'm guessing my mother is downstairs, waiting for me. They've let me sleep in. I tell that to Prim. "Thanks". She smiles and leaves.

I'm trying to decide what i'll wear from the abundance of clothes in my wardrobe, when i see it. Lying on the carpet, a whole set, with shoes. One of my mother's old dresses. And not just any. This must've cost a fortune when she got it. And these dresses mean so much to her..

It's a soft green silk, the exact color of our woods. It's got a gold bow on it, and i see my gold mockingjay pinned on to it. Flying through the trees..

I feel a pang of fear. This dress... it reminds me so much of the green outfit i wore on the train to the Capitol last year, heading towards what i thought was certain death.

For a second, i'm scared, but then its beauty returns. I quickly put it on- the reaping isn't something you can afford to be late for.

* * *

The town square's a very short walk from home. When we arrive, i meet Gale. I can see Peacekeepers closing in on us, but i look at him and he nods. Good luck. Then i'm being escorted to the top of the stage because i'm a mentor and i take a seat beside Peeta. I guess they've given Haymitch a year off. He sees me and we automatically link hands. For us or the Capitol, i don't know. I silently swear that the next victor in the Games will be from District Twelve.

I'm a mentor.

I look down on the people below me. Many of the girls are skinny, from the Seam. They wouldn't stand a chance. Even the other ones, the merchants, are at least fed, and the only thing they can do with a knife is cook. Kill? Fat chance.

I see eyes looking up at me, most from the Seam. Full of envy and admiration and wonder and fear. They've probably seen no one other than Haymitch up here before. I'm one of them, but so polished and perfect and healthy and beautiful.

Then it hits me. Me and Peeta will be mentoring two different tributes- and we're so close we'll probably be working together. For the second time, both of us will struggle to decide who will live.

_Well, the first time didn't count. We weren't exactly struggling. _I think. We were both determined for the other to live.

Suddenly, Effie Trinket has finished playing the clip on the Dark Days.

She steps forward. "Happy Hunger Games!" I look at Gale. "And may the odds be _ever _in your favor." He sees me and i snort. Peeta looks at me curiously.

"Ladies first!" Effie sees me and smiles sadly. She carefully selects a slip from the top of the glass ball, a specific one on the left side. Something isn't right, she's smiling too strange- even for Effie. The square is so silent that i can hear her swallow and i'm just hoping it's not Prim please not Prim and then she's reading out the name and it starts with a K and i'm so happy because it's not her.

"Katniss Everdeen"

I'm a bit baffled. For the first time, whispering breaks through the crowd. Has Effie just addressed me to tell me something? No, she's looking away from the people clearly sobbing her eyes out. The mayor stands and holds up the mic. But before he opens his mouth, i hear a small but loud and clear voice from a girl somewhere from amongst the twelve year olds. The same thing i said exactly one year ago. Except i hear determination in her voice, not the panic that was in mine.

"I volunteer as Tribute", she says.

Says Prim.


End file.
